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I can’t believe the best time of year has not been mentioned…until now. CHRISTMAS! If the old traditions of carols by candle-light and decorating the Christmas tree has become more boring than what you remember it is definitely time to add new traditions to bring some “Christmas spirit”.

The new sleigh

Last year while my sister and I were driving around looking for shops and Christmas presents, we discovered a new way of driving during the jolly season. This includes a few rules:

1)When in car, a Christmas hat must be worn at all times

2) A batch of mince pies must be at hand to give to the beggars at the side of the road. If not mince pies, then some other kind of treat

3) You have to say “Merry Christmas!” to anyone who makes eye-contact with you while the car is stationary, this includes being generally joyous.

4) Also, there has to be some Christmas music booming from the car radio, or singing if you do not have a car radio

The new manger

Here a Manger refers to the community of gathered people, like a house where a social gathering is taking place. Christmas is usually the time you say good bye to friends and hello to family… it shouldn’t have to be like that. This is an opportunity to see your friends and celebrate! For example: an awesome Christmas brunch! maybe before the 25th. This is also an opportunity to make others, even strangers, feel welcome (Christmas can be a surprisingly lonely time for many).

Your humble abode doesnt have to be decorated in Capitalist-enforced decoration scheme, but something that is personal and reflects what Christmas means to you. Also creating funny rules for your house over Christmas can be fun too.

Festive food and drinks

Like hot-cross buns in Easter, Christmas also has special and selective foods. We all know of the obvious: turkey, mince pies and Christmas cake/fruit cake, but there is alternatives that your stomach can venture.

7)Sparkling wine with a sugar coated rimmed glass with a cherry inside.

8) instead of Christmas cake, eat Stollen (German cake)!

A new Wishlist

Usually over this holiday period, it is about composing the perfect list of desired presents. Maybe it should be about making an effort for others, attempting to make it enjoyable for others- so that everyone can appreciate this time of year. Transform what christmas usually looks like, like Elf in the movie Elf 🙂

The new/old Cliche

Honestly most of us have said we were going to hand out presents to the under-privileged or feed the poor… but never got around to doing it. This time round take action and do something that is important to you and represents Christmas in a great way.

Take a drive down Adderley street or down the suburban Edison drive.

Lastly, when all else fails sing Christmas carols out loud to yourself in the most ear-aching voice you can master!

This guy, he’s different. While we have our usual pop stars doing the whole “sex and you are not perfect” message, Bruno Mars has entered the mainstream with an entirely different message. One of his single titles sums it up perfectly: Just the way you are. Bruno Mars is selling a message of “be who you are, because who you are is cool”. Bruno is pretty cool.

I like this message, because now I don’t have to feel fat and the need to strive for perfection because Bruno says I’m amazing just the way I am. And this will probably do much for many females as well. Instead of listening to Kesha, who says that you should brush your teeth with Jack Daniels, females can rest in the fact that all other girls have nothing on them according to Bruno in his song Nothin’ on you.

This will definitely be good for insecure people and give a positive message that is so desperately needed in the mainstream music scene. As long as people only hear the music. Just don’t let those people see the music video. That airbrushed girl in Just the way you are kind of reinstates the whole idea of “I like you just the way you are if you are airbrushed”. Don’t get me wrong though, the song is awesome and still has a positive message, here it is:

Now if Bruno sang his song to a fat chick who didn’t subscribe to mainstream standards of beauty, then I would give maximum respect. I guess mainstream never can fully be excluded.

Oh and Katy Perry is also doing it now with Firework. After kissing a girl and liking it, she has decided that everyone is a firework. She is telling everyone that they are worth something. Thanks Katy. Oh, and don’t try the firework thing coming out of your chest. That could end in tears.

Special: Half price movies at Ster Kinekor [note: for all you regular Blue Route movie-watchers, they have recently increased their price to R35 a ticket, so if you have a card it’ll be R17.50 on Tuesdays]

Production: 7 December – 15 January – Satisfaction on Broadway

Happy birthday to: Aaron Carter, Tom Waits, Ellen Burstyn.

Wednesday 8 December

TV: Big Bang Theory on Mnet at 7:30

Gig: Glen Hartmann at Manuka, Steenberg: No entrance fee, but you are encouraged to buy food [Manuka baskets come with chips, topped with crumbed mushrooms, chicken strips, pork riblets and bratwurst medallions – R89] Join us for some live music!

I found this awesome image on the Lifehacker site so all credit to them.

Facebook has announced that they will be producing a new messaging system which will unify: E-mail, SMS and instant messaging. Facebook wishes to bring all these to a single (monopolized) destination.

A big change will be that there will be a thread for each person you are in contact with. Each thread will consist of E-mails, SMS’s and IM’s. Facebook hopes that this will speed up all forms of communication.

There are a few things to consider when deciding how you will integrate the new messaging system into your life of connectivity.

1) Facebook’s image

While many acknowledge the brilliance and ingenuity of Facebook, for many people it is still seen as a leisure activity and not to be taken too seriously. If you decide to use your joesoap@facebook.com E-mail address as your primary and only address you will encounter a few problems.

You will not be taken seriously. When your formal E-mails are sent with a Facebook E-mail address people will be inclined to judge you. Yes they will judge you to be a pleb.

2) They will block it

Many companies will block the new messaging system making it hard to retrieve those important E-mails while at work.

3) Facebook knows these things too

Facebook aren’t being stupid here, they are doing what they should be: Expanding and improving what they can. Having a Facebook email account can help many Facebook related processes, such as pages, and those quick on-the-go emails will now be a little easier.

In other Facebook news, Facebook is suing Lamebook over trademark infringements. They have already successfully won cases against: Placebook, Techbook and Faceporn.